This morning the Taoiseach doubled down on comments Eoghan Murphy made yesterday and attempted to deflect blame to County Councils saying that they are not doing enough to tackle the housing crisis.

The reality of the situation is that Minister Murphy’s department published guidelines in June which will effectively mean dezoning swathes of residential land in Kildare and the greater Dublin area. This was done without consultation on the impact at a local level.

It will mean that 6,000 houses fewer will be built in the next five years in Kildare alone.

The guidelines will also mean reductions in Meath, Wicklow and other counties currently bearing the brunt of the housing crisis. The guidelines have also instructed councils to stop working on their County Development plans. Six weeks ago Kildare County Council passed my motion agreeing to ask the Minister to explain how this plan would impact on our county. It’s extremely frustrating to be sitting hear six weeks later listening to an Taoiseach and a Minister criticise local government when he is yet to address the real concerns we’ve put to him.

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On Friday 3rd August I joined Shane Beatty in studio to discuss the details of this plan and how it will impact on County Kildare. (Interview begins at 4 minutes in).